Nuovo Anno

A strange and rather disappointing last evening of the year turned out to be one of the most memorable. 

Melissa and I spent New Year's Eve 2013 (has it really been that long already!?) in Florence. We were expecting lots of festivities: fireworks, music, events, the works. It was not to be. Florence apparently has a very different idea of what a New Years celebration looks like. To the people of Florence, it seemed to mean an excuse to run riot in the streets, lighting firecrackers and throwing things at their hundreds of years old buildings. No fireworks, no festivities, nada. We wore glow sticks when we went out late that night and were seemingly the only ones who did. We got a lot of strange looks. 


There was one saving grace: one person who made our night seem so much more magical. He basically saved our whole opinion of the night. It was a waiter at a restaurant right next to il Duomo (which was being attacked by firecrackers). Mel and I were hovering in a doorway nearby, still under the illusion that there was going to be some sort of fireworks display. He came up to us and offered us some champagne. Obviously, we said no. You don't go around accepting drinks off of random strangers. He came back a few minutes later and offered us a table and a glass of champagne at the restaurant, free of charge. He even opened the bottle in front of us. I accepted the offer then. We sat and drank our drinks among wealthy Italians out to dinner and rang in the New Year talking about the kindness of strangers and how one little gesture can make someone's whole night. So even despite the disappointments we'd had, our New Year's Eve still turned out to be rather special.